Preparing for the Oral Exam
The requirements and structure of the oral examination varies from institution to institution. At my institution, the exam required the examinee to develop three lists of readings, each list reflecting a specific topic in an area of research. This area of research is usually the foundation of your dissertation topic. If this structure resembles the exam you will prepare for, perhaps this post can be of some help to you.
A Teaching Playlist
Music is so important for a lot of us—it can help to relax us when we are feeling stressed, it can pick us up when we need some lift, it—wait. I don’t think I need to sell music. You get it. Anyway, if you’re into it, you might consider putting together a playlist for your class(es). It can set the tone for the day and be a welcoming pedagogical gesture for your students. You might curate a playlist that corresponds to different parts of the class. Maybe you have a playlist you play for the first five minutes of class. Perhaps you play some more high-energy music mid-class after an in-depth explainer on the final essay assignment. Finally, perhaps you have a closing playlist. For some inspo, below are some songs I chose from various instrumental playlists I found on Apple Music (Spotify also has similar playlists).
A Teaching Ritual
I have written about engaging ritual work in teaching here, but I wanted to post a simpler ritual exercise here. I also discuss ritual in my scholarly research—rituals are simply habits. Because we all perform rote tasks everyday, we all have access to ritual—it isn’t a skill one needs to learn. We just need to pay more attention to the rituals (habits) we perform regularly to appreciate their importance.
Down The Strange and Winding Road to the Ph.D
Someone recently asked me how I finished my doctoral program. I don’t think I gave them the response they were looking for. The truth is, there’s no singular way that one finishes a doctorate. I think there’s a lot of luck and privilege involved, honestly. Many of us need support systems to finish the degree—beloved pets, significant others, family, friends, peers, mentors. Many of us rely on these systems to provide for us financially and emotionally.
Take-aways from the TLC’s 2022 Teach @ CUNY Seminar
I recently co-facilitated an online summer teaching seminar for CUNY graduate students, most of whom will be teaching for the first time in the fall. What came out of the many conversations we had with the seminar participants was a desire to feel comfortable grading, assessing, and analyzing student work. While responding to participant concerns, I began thinking of a general set of questions for instructors to consider when thinking about grading and evaluation strategies. Here’s what I came up with:
Getting high on my own (pedagogical) supply.
I often, in the midst of planning for a course, get so excited about how the activities I introduce will go over with my students. I think about what they might come away with at the end of the class / semester, how they might feel about the concepts I introduce and what needs to be in place to ensure relative safety (sometimes things like reflection essays, for example, can bring up strong emotions among students, so I like to build-in contingencies to address this possibility). I also often do not think of myself as another beneficiary (participant - yes, beneficiary - not necessarily) of the outcomes I hope my students end up working with.